'The French Redoubt at Inkermann', 1855.

Description

Photograph by Roger Fenton (1819-1869) of French soldiers in a fortified position at Inkerman. These soldiers are probably North African or Zouave troops, noted for their exotic uniforms and baggy red trousers. With his assistant Marcus Sparling and a mobile darkroom, a converted wine merchant's van, Fenton took 360 photographs of camp life, portraits and landscapes during the Crimean War (1854-1856). Roger Fenton was a founding member of the Royal Photographic Society and one of the most influential photographers of the 1850s. He is best known as one of the first war photographers, from his work in the Crimea in 1855. However, he also took many highly-regarded photographs of the Royal Family and the collections of the British Museum as well as many superb landscapes, architectural studies and still lifes.